Simotas and Peralta Continue Fight for Voters’ Rights

Call on Board of Elections to Assign Personnel to Closed Polling Site

November 7, 2012

Astoria, N.Y. – Continuing their work to promote voters’ rights for this fall’s elections, Assemblymember Aravella Simotas and State Senator Jose Peralta called on the New York City Board of Elections to assign personnel or poll workers to the closed polling site at Public School 2. Many residents have been voting at Public School 2 for decades, will now have to travel significant distances to unfamiliar polling sites to vote.

Simotas and Peralta sent a letter to Board of Elections President Maria R. Guastella requesting that personnel be assigned to P.S. 2 to alert voters to the closure of the polling site. With the confusion surrounding the redistribution of polling sites, many voters will go to P.S. 2 to vote, unaware of its closure. The legislators requested that personnel or poll workers be assigned to the site to redirect voters to the correct location.

“Voting is not just our right, it is our responsibility – that is why I am deeply concerned for those who are not aware of the changes who will show up at P.S. 2 and have no idea where to vote,” Simotas said. “I don’t want one voter discouraged from voting because of inconvenience or confusion.”

"We are asking the Board of Elections to take action to overcome the confusion created by new poll site assignments," Peralta said. "Helping voters who have used P.S. 2 for years, perhaps even decades, is a simple but important step. The goal must always be to promote turnout, not confuse, alienate and disenfranchise voters."